Asians have surpassed Hispanics as the largest group of new immigrants to the United States, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center.

The study, called “The Rise of Asian Americans” and released on Tuesday, reveals that Asian-Americans also have the highest income, are the best educated and are the fastest-growing racial group in America.

The wave of incoming Asians pushed the total number of Asian-Americans to a record 18.2 million, or 5.8 percent of the total U.S. population, according to census data. By comparison, non-Hispanic whites (197.5 million) account for 63.3 of the U.S. population, while Hispanics (52 million) and non-Hispanic blacks (38.3 million) account for 16.7 percent and 12.3 percent, respectively.

The influx of Asians reflects “a slowdown in illegal immigration while American employers increase their demand for high-skilled workers,” the Associated Press said. Sixty-one percent of 25-to-64-year-old Asian immigrants come with at least a bachelor’s degree—more than double non-Asian immigrants, making the recent Asian arrivals “the most highly educated cohort of immigrants in U.S. history.”

The study also found that Asian-Americans are “more satisfied than the general public with their lives, finances and the direction of the country, and they place a greater value on marriage, parenthood, hard work and career success.”

What impact could this have on the American economy? And what should Americans do to keep up with their new competition?

About a decade ago, my lab made an unexpected breakthrough in the understanding of good and evil. We discovered that the neurochemical oxytocin makes people trustworthy. We then found oxytocin was responsible for many other moral behaviors, from being generous to sacrificing to help a stranger.

While neuroscience has provided new insights into our human nature, the philosophy of morality has not gone away. My talk identifies the philosophers whose insights and arguments are consistent with the way oxytocin works in the human brain. Two hit the mark: Aristotle and Adam Smith. Aristotle claimed that the reason to be a virtuous person is because it makes us happy. I found the same thing: Those who release the most oxytocin in the lab are more satisfied with their lives.

I’ve also found that societies that are more moral (for example, more trustworthy and more tolerant) also have higher standards of living. Smith understood why: Morality undergirds economic exchange, opening up more opportunities for the creation of wealth that individuals in a transaction can share. And, prosperity (perhaps surprisingly) can make societies more moral. All this occurs as part of our human nature, our brains adapting to evolving social environments.

So, this ancient and tiny molecule, oxytocin, has taken us from being social creatures to, increasingly, being tolerant, empathic and prosperous ones. Quite a nice trick for a tiny molecule that traces its lineage back at least 400 million years.